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andylim writes "Today Nokia unveiled its first netbook that runs Windows and packs an Intel Atom processor. The Nokia Booklet 3G is the first Nokia device to feature a full-sized keypad and a 10-inch display. Recombu.com has listed the specs, which include an SD card reader, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G, HSDPA (3.5G), Wi-Fi, an HDMI port for HD video out and a front-facing camera for video calling. According to Nokia, the Booklet will provide 12 hours of battery life."

With the Nokia Meg-A-Phone, everybody will see you using the worlds largest and most connected cyber-e-web-chat-wifiphone(2) !

The Meg-A-Phone also doubles as an emergency shelter, a radiation shield, a flotation device(3) and a room heater(4).

(1) i and possibly other vowels are a trademark of the fruit company(2) in select locations, may be subject to restrictions depending on phases of the moon(3) not to be used outside of parental supervision(4) this function not to be used in aircrafts or within sight of law enforcement

Ah... Fond memories. I was in the integration team of Series 90, whose first product was 7700 [wikipedia.org]. The product got the dubious honor of being the first Nokia product ever to be announced but not shipped. With much ridicule, the side talkin' feature was dropped in the first and only shipping S90 product 7710 [wikipedia.org], an "iPhone" ahead of its time.

Insightful? Hardly. The person you're criticizing used the "code" modifier to make sure his message was properly formatted. Like so: test . Otherwise his message would have looked rather messy and unreadable.

Insightful? Hardly. The person you're criticizing used the "code" modifier to make sure his message was properly formatted. Like so: test . Otherwise his message would have looked rather messy and unreadable.

For a second, I thought the same. However:

I then remembered that Slashdot supports enough HTML to allow proper lists.

I concluded that he had therefore formatted his message thus because he is one of the following:

ignorant,

an annoying person.

I note that though you claim he used the ' "code" modifier', both you and he actually used <tt> rather than <code>.

I haven't seen any price estimates. Anyone know what it might go for? Looks great though.

From the article:
"Further information, including detailed specs, availability and pricing, will be announced at Nokia World on the 2nd of September, which we'll be attending, so we can tell you more then."

How disappointing, I thought they were working on Maemo and other cool Linux stuff? Are those only considered fit for PDAs and (eventually) phones?
Of course Nokia can try to become another Dell if they want to, but why is another Windows PC considered Slashdot front page material?

Probably because it is a large company moving into the market from the low end and bringing expertise for inexpensive mobile devices into said market. I find it interesting, even if I'm not thrilled with all of their choices. The GPS and cell receiver/transmitter are interesting choices for a low end device, for example, which reflect their expertise in cell phones.

Maybe this won't spur Linux adoption or undermine MS, but that doesn't mean it won't drive changes in the industry or spur adoption of other technologies.

My guess is that the majority of slashdot readers use Windows. Many of them won't admit it (here), much in the same way a fan of pop music will keep mum when he sits down at a cafeteria table he suspects is populated exclusively with sniffy jazz enthusiasts, but that only makes them a Silent Majority.

Slashdot has grown way, way, beyond it's Linux / Buffy / Anime roots, as has "geekdom" itself. It would be foolish for the editors not to acknowledge this by not running stories of interest to "mainstream tech enthusiasts," who I suspect are the majority of its readers.

FWIW, I've been using Linux since 1994, but still have a Windows box because I need to run some client's apps that are Windows-only. Both OS's have their failings, both have their charms.

I thought everyone on Slashdot hated the RIAA, the MPAA, and Microsoft. Why do you keep hyping CDs, movies, and Windows games?

Big corporations are what they are. They sell us cool stuff with one hand and tighten the screws on our freedoms with the other. We hate them every morning and love them every afternoon, and vice versa. This is part of living in the modern world: you take your yin with your yang and try to figure out how to do what's right the best you can. If you think it has to be all one way or the other, that's cool, share your opinions, but don't expect everyone else to think the same.

If is somewhat standard netbook hardware you can install linux on it, but some hardware components will make it tricky (not sure how well supported is the gps and 3g that they will include, time will tell when more complete specs) and some software components that they want to push too (music? will be DRMd? And i suppose that the OVI store dont have a lot of linux programs for selling),Anyway, would be interesting to see that it runs linux with all the hardware supported. And that have a price similar to th

If it is the Huawie modem that everone else uses, it is supported in most recent distros out of the box. However, Nokia being who they are may have developed their own modem, which probably won't work.

I'm eagerly awaiting for this unit to come out, since it looks like the only thing worth upgrading to from my elderly Palm TX.

Haven't been impressed much by any of the iPhones, Android, the Pre, and especially not any of the Blackberries I've been issued through work. I would have bought an N810 some time ago if it didn't look like the N900 was close on the horizon.

It is not like Nokia is your average Windows hater company. It is kinda blurry on OS X with iSync etc. but Nokia smart phones best works with Windows on the other end. It is basic as that. Their Nokia Multimedia Transfer (still beta) could have been released for OS X but there is nothing to fill PC Suite's place on OS X. I would be very very surprised if they contributed a single line to KDE's sync solutions, even after Qt acquisition.

This is a company who pays millions to Trolltech (while they are doing extremely fine) and release first Qt for S60 demo in.exe form! After I see that page (link below) I went to all IRC channels I frequent to take my "Use Nokia, it is cool with Python, open, Qt is coming too" suggestions back. For most people, it is Ovi App store which made people lose their hopes. For me? It was that basic blog entry meant no harm but showed what kind of waste Nokia did by purchasing Qt. Thank God, Qt is GPL and already has gigantic prestige in commercial development with a huge community on Linux&BSD.

I am sure they forced the early release, something OTHER THAN WINDOWS will be supported at one point but just imagine a Qt&Linux developers face when he is greeted with.exe with the excuse of emulator being WINDOWS ONLY. I really hope Nokia is more ashamed than me. Yes, I actually feel ashamed for doing their PR work to Developers for free, with information making complete sense but wrong.

I don't know what is meant by saying Maemo wasn't written for Intel hardware. It's just standard Linux stuff, largely based on Debian. Of course you can build and run it on Intel CPUs. It's true it does have some proprietary bits which Nokia builds and distributes for ARM only, but since it's their own code, I assume they could port it pretty easily if they wanted.
If they think a Windows laptop will sell better, that's their judgement, but I think they missed a trick by not offering a Linux version.

I was on the pre-release developers' program for the 770 and the development environment ran on Debian x86. Unfortunately, making it run on any other x86 platform than Debian (possibly other than the guy who wrote it's Debian box) was a world of pain, and I got bored trying before I managed to get any code building for it. I wish, for devices like this, people would ship a customised QEMU ARM image containing a native compiler, rather than some hacky Linux tree of fragile shell scripts.

More than 50% of the MS haters here still use Windows, after some kind of epic fail when installing ubuntu!

Yeah, things like "Flash won't work", "ATI isn't supported", and "Yamaha doesn't make sound cards" tend to make Ubuntu a pain in the ass.

MS, for all its flaws, does make a product that works, has hardware support, and does so with less work that with Ubuntu. (I have to set my screen resolution every 2-3 reboots, for example, and I don't have access to any of the 3d features, S-video, secondary port, or TV out on my card.)

Ubuntu works best if you're running the same hardware specs as one of the developers.

I've read (and saw once) that the Netbooks with Atom processors have issues with having enough processing power to handle HD video. (though basical video played fine) Whats the point of the HDMI video out if it has issues with HD video?

I've read (and saw once) that the Netbooks with Atom processors have issues with having enough processing power to handle HD video. (though basical video played fine) Whats the point of the HDMI video out if it has issues with HD video?

Because it's the only reasonable choice of connector if you want to interface your laptop to a modern TV.

I've read (and saw once) that the Netbooks with Atom processors have issues with having enough processing power to handle HD video. (though basical video played fine) Whats the point of the HDMI video out if it has issues with HD video?

Because it's the only reasonable choice of connector if you want to interface your laptop to a modern TV.

I've had no problems using VGA on several different HD TVs - you just need to set the resolution to the native resolution of the screen.

And what if such a resolution doesn't show up in your display settings dialog?

I've had no problems getting a picture. But a filling the widescreen display, at full resolution, with no borders, overscan or loss of aspect ratio - I haven't got my Toshiba TV and my Dell laptop to do that.

I've had no problems using VGA on several different HD TVs - you just need to set the resolution to the native resolution of the screen.

Yes, that would be a neat idea, except for the fact that the driver for the VGA chip running on probably half the PCs and laptops out there (the Intel GMA 9xx) does not support 1366x768 (except if you do some really crude and invasive hacking).
Yes, I got it to run in the end, but it's such a pain to set up that I decided to just mirror my 1280x768 on the TV screen...

Because VGA sucks on LCD - you've got to convert the signal to analogue and then convert it back to digital again.

What's the market share of LCD HDTVs vs. CRT SDTVs? Last time I saw U.S. statistics [engadgethd.com], two-thirds of living room TVs were still the old boxy things because they were purchased before the late 2000s when LCD HDTVs became affordable.

Mine neither, it's a Philips high end screen. Most of the ones now in the store do have VGA. It's a bit of a shame since my fan-less mobo is not supported (I don't count the video out if you don't mind). Of course my laptop has no problems at all, even at 1920x1080 and using lowly Intel integrated video. It works perfectly, at least after I tell the TV that it should leave the signal alone (otherwise it will try and overcompensate movement).

I've read (and saw once) that the Netbooks with Atom processors have issues with having enough processing power to handle HD video. (though basical video played fine) Whats the point of the HDMI video out if it has issues with HD video?

For the people who buy based on feature lists alone. Although, HDMI is a great way to connect A/V devices. Even without HD video.... no mucking with display modes and the like. Also nicely carries sound in one cable. Which is why Apple's mini DVI port on the notebooks are

I have a 770 and it's a great portable Vim machine (I've used it to write articles with a folding bluetooth keyboard on several occasions), but the OMAP2 is getting really old. The OMAP3 is a very nice chip and the OMAP4 is (apparently) out now, although I've not seen any devices based on it.

I've seen 810s on eBay in allegedly good condition for ~210 shipped. People still pay as much as $300 though. For a device with that little screen, it is a chunk of change!

If I could get one in good shape for $200, I would do it. Maemo seems totally adequate, and I want something small with internal GPS. Weren't we supposed to be seeing a "rash" of ARM-based netbooks running Android by now?

So would I, but there are certain realities to take into consideration:
- most users still want to run MS-Windows
- MS-Windows is not ARM ready
- There are hardly any mainstream Linux distributions that are ARM ready.

on top of that if you look at the promo video its Windows 7 NOT windows XP like all of the other "net books"

to me that is a selling point for MS.. it Nokia can put out a net book with all this wonderful connectivity + 12 hours usable run time + having windows 7 vs XP then MS will have a strong selling point (much better IMO than the moheav crap)

my hopes is that this (because of the HD offering) actualy has it.. that size + a HD+ quality screen (1280x800 would be wonderful for 10in) and the nVidia GPU dual core Atom refrence board we saw a few months ago to power it.

I like the idea of the netbooks and the Atom. and having HT on the atom is nice.. but dual core Atoms are by far what i would want. but no one releases them saddly.

Doing what? Being in standby mode? Or actually using anything? Even my EEEPC 1000 says 7-8 hours of battery life and I get 4-4.5 using wifi/internet or watching video. So I'm guessing this will have 5-6 hours of actual use battery life.

That's 12 hours while running notepad with the CPU clocked to 4MHz, with the backlight on minimum (you will need to cover yourself and your netbook with a blanket and wait for your night vision to adjust), and no network connection, and with your hard drive powered down. If you save your text file to disk, or if you hold down your shift key for longer than is necessary, you will not be guaranteed the 12 hours of battery life.

Possible, but according to rumours you will be able to get several EeePCs for the price of one Nokia netbook, so it may have some fairly advanced battery tech in it -- after all, batteries are pretty 'core competence' for Nokia.

I don't see why not. I purchased a 3g contract that included a USB dongle that accepted a SIM card. I swear upon simply plugging it into a live Ubuntu 8.10 machine, that thing had a connection in less than 5 seconds, no password needed, (the SIM *is* the 'password' and key to the account. 1 SIM per account, period.)

FWIW, I chose to take the SIM out of the dongle, and it lives in my Nokia N95. This way I have 3g internet (and SIP calls) for the N95 as well as any wifi device nearby, using Joikuspot and hot-swappable AA rechargeable batteries, when needed. Nokia and 3rd parties sell little plastic AA battery holders; joikuspot needs it) If power is available, the N95 functioning as 3g router can draw power from USB via a retractable cable a buddy told me to buy off eBay for a single pound sterling, via Hong Kong. It actually cost me 2.30 euro, but still, what a unit!

after buying an e63 and feeling like i've paid for buying battery powered feces i wouldn't trust nokia to design or engineer a matchstick

the manufacturing is shoddy at best, the software is flaky and the support is laughable (two firmware updates later and the only difference i can see is that the equalizer doesn't work when you've got the headphones plugged in)

after buying an e63 and feeling like i've paid for buying battery powered feces i wouldn't trust nokia to design or engineer a matchstick

the manufacturing is shoddy at best, the software is flaky and the support is laughable (two firmware updates later and the only difference i can see is that the equalizer doesn't work when you've got the headphones plugged in)

Sounds like you should have done some research. There are two different versions of some Nokia phones, made in two different countries. One c

I see a lot of posts so far...blah blah no linux blah blah disappointing, no linux blah blah blah.People need to get real! If Nokia had entered what is gearing up to be a very aggressive market with a linux based netbook, I would have expect the BOD to fire the CEO right away!

Asus tried it already and it failed. People who buy a netbook want it to work just like their laptop. They want to share the same documents and have the same user interface.

The fact is, this Nokia netbook looks great. It's got loads of stuff on it and is slick as snot. If it's not too expensive, I will be buying one myself and no..I wont be installing Linux.

If Nokia had entered what is gearing up to be a very aggressive market with a linux based netbook, I would have expect the BOD to fire the CEO right away!

Asus tried it already and it failed.

Asus created the netbook market with the eeePc, and you consider it a failure?

Before the eeePc, we had small form factor machines that were fragile, gimmicky, and expensive as hell. The Fujitsu Librettos come to mind, as do the OQO machines.

Asus recognized that people wanted a tiny computer that would allow them to communicate with their friends -- web pages, email, instant messaging. Screw spreadsheets, word processing, and powerpoint. And they made it cheap, cheap cheap. Then they scared the crap out of Microsoft by putting Linux on it.

Asus sold their machines by the boatload, Microsoft caved, and now we have cheap netbooks with enormously discounted copies of Windows on them.

The eeePc was anything but a failure, and Linux was a key part of its success.

Nokia finally releases N97 to their still remaining fanbase at Europe&Parts of Asia for a price which is possibly higher than a "real laptop" (think like average joe or hans) with 12&24 month contracts and 780 Euros price in some areas when bought without contract.

I don't hear good things about N97 and besides some usual Symbian haters, some makes huge sense and they have a good point like the usual device flash/SD card schizophrenia, things being there but not performing well (Facebook) and very mi

Nokia finally releases N97 to their still remaining fanbase at Europe&Parts of Asia for a price which is possibly higher than a "real laptop" (think like average joe or hans) with 12&24 month contracts and 780 Euros price in some areas when bought without contract.

I don't hear good things about N97 and besides some usual Symbian haters, some makes huge sense and they have a good point like the usual device flash/SD card schizophrenia, things being there but not performing well (Facebook) and very mixed signals with the latest Linux based netbook like thing.

Now they release this information for what reason exactly? To make more remaining customers of high end bang their heads to wall? One doesn't need to be a commercial spy to figure this has a big deal to do with MS Office deal with MSFT. The deal which didn't do anything but guaranteed state of the art Quickoffice to be abandoned for Symbian and moved to iPhone at some point in the future.

The current non-contract retail price of the N97 in Finland is 610 EUR. The iPhone 3GS is 1000 EUR. Basically the only difference between the two is the processor speed. All other features match.

How many manufactures are going to build these things. I know they are wildly popular due to cost, but come on, they are all the same.

They all use the same hardware. They all pretty much use the same software. Some look slightly different, maybe.

Although the Asus ones seemed OK, most of the clones seemed crap to me. Only Dell seemed to have made a decent clone. All the others were crap at battery life.

Atom 1.6ghz. 1GB RAM. 160GB HD. Wifi etc... big honking deal.

Hi speed internet and much needed synchronization and GPS are certainly nothing to be sneezed at though. Design and battery life seem great as well.

Maybe they will change something who knows.

I also notice that it has a HDMI port for HD out... um why? Other than you brag you have it I see this as somewhat useless. Will it have video that can handle HD? Likely not. Will it have a HD that you can store lots of HD stuff on? Not really. Will it have a BluRay optical drive? Um No. Is watching HD on a 10 in screen stupid? Likely yes.

Will I prefer my 1920x1080 screen to a 10 inch netbook screen? Hell yes. Will it make it easier to setup a connection compared to VGA or composite? Most likely it will.

No idea what HSDPA is? Though it says (3.5G) which sounds like a cell network protocol. Which is great if it is in your area, of which they likely only cover metro areas or 2% of the actual area...

Buy a S40 cheap Nokia phone with 3G connectivity support. You will be amazed at its durability, speed and battery life. Combine it with a netbook from a company who really knows how things work and not at schizoid state like Nokia, be happy.

I am telling it as a owner of 2 high end Nokia Symbian devices. Stay away. They have no clue where they are heading.

I see why not. If there's no dedicated connection software, insert the SIM, use the modem as a modem and dial *99#. I fail to imagine what the HDSPA modem would be for, other than using it precisely as you describe.

Netbooks aren't made for HD video. They're made for internet use and word processing. Portability, not power. I'd like to be able to use mine for 720p video, but on a 10" screen that can't do 1280x720 anyways what's the point?

At ~ 1800 dollars is a bit expensive to be considered a netbook. Netbooks arent mean to be speed demons, just cheap internet anywhere (and long battery life helps in that direction).. The 3g connectivity in this nokia netbook is a push in the right direction (gps too, as there are a lot of location based internet services).

It means they are finally starting to figure out the technology in the Roswell saucer.

Withing a couple of years we'll having flying cars, interstellar spaceships, rayguns and a robot uprising. After that the aliens will come back and wipe us out for being a bunch of irresponsible, upstart monkeys.

Asus 1101 HA [asus.com] gets 11+ hours, but the Atom processor included is one of the Z series (that can be overclocked to get an N series speed, but reducing battery life). Playing creatively with conditions on which you get that runtime you could get up to 12hs, i suppose.

Try developing C/C++/Java/Python/Perl apps on your smartphone. For me the netbook allows me to do all that without the inconvenience of having to carry around a full size laptop. I guess I could do some of it on a smartphone but it would not be a good experience.